Smith sings Carroll's praises

Adam Smith wasn't surprised to see Tom Carroll join him on England Under-21 duty this week.

Adam Smith wasn't surprised to see Tom Carroll join him on England Under-21 duty this week.

The young midfielder was called up for the first time by Stuart Pearce for the European Championship qualifiers against Iceland tonight and Belgium on Monday.

Tom, 20, has impressed this season having made his first-team breakthrough.

So confident on the ball and always looking for possession, Tom has started six times including five matches in our Europa League campaign.

"I’ve watched the European games and he’s done really well for the first team," said Adam, impressing himself in a season's loan at MK Dons.

"I played against him for Bournemouth against Orient last season. He’s not the biggest player physically but technically, he’s absolutely spot-on. He’s always had that ability on the ball and the confidence to receive it anywhere. He’s certainly got something about him.

"It would be great if he got a first cap."

Adam did just that in September's friendly win against Israel and then picked up his first competitive cap against Norway last month.

"It's great to be selected again and hopefully I'll get more game time, I'll have to wait and see," he said.

"I'd love to start but even coming on for your country means a great deal. It just means that little more in the qualifiers and I'd love to feature again.

"The team has won every game so far but we can't afford to lose any games in the group and we'll be looking to continue against Iceland and Belgium."